2015 Cal Alive! Explore Change Institute

June 19-21 and June 26-28, 2015Registration is Open

This Institute will investigate the crosscutting concepts of change and stability, looking at scales ranging from daily to geologic. We’ll emphasize seasonal change including the hot new topic, phenology.
Join scientists, educators, and naturalists in the Sierra Nevada for this 6-day residential exploration of environmental change. We’ll highlight scientific practices with classroom activities and techniques for field investigations that your students will be able to use.

Habitats Alive!

California is one of the world’s most geographically and biologically diverse regions, but this diversity is under constant threat as a result of human activity. Habitats Alive! is designed to educate citizens about these amazing places in our trust and their importance to us all. It is brimming with in-depth information about our state’s natural areas, and it is the perfect resource for any hiker, naturalist, scientist, or curious California resident. Be inspired by California’s incredible biodiversity!

Cal Alive! Riding the Wind: Heat Things Up

Take off on the first part of your journey as you begin to delve into how extreme weather events like tornadoes, thunderstorms and hurricanes are formed. What forces are at play? How does heat in the atmosphere play a part? Find this out and more! Topics covered include: Unequal Heating, Conduction, Convection, Radiation, Heat Transfer in the atmosphere, Volume, Mass and Density!

Home

Cal Alive! inspires teachers to awaken a love of nature in their students by emphasizing the importance of strong scientific knowledge learned through interactive engagement with multimedia, classroom activities, and, most importantly, the outdoors. It is this unique combination that Cal Alive! brings to all its products and services that will foster today's students to become knowledgeable environmentally conscious citizens.

Professional Development

Harnessing the Power of the Outdoors

Cal Alive! presents teacher professional development courses that get you outside doing science in the field. Whether seine netting in the San Francisco Bay or hiking to beautiful vistas in Yosemite, our courses will teach you how to use the intrinsic power of the natural world to inspire students and also educate them on the science concepts at work before their very eyes.

Educational Materials

Engagement through Interaction

Cal Alive! produces an array of educational products. From activity guides that get your students' hands dirty as they learn about coastal food webs, to resource guides that describe in detail the 53 habitats of California, to multimedia pieces that use flash animations to show the science we can't always see with the naked eye, we promise that these products will get your students engaged in and comprehending the science behind the natural world.

"My experience from Cal Alive! helped me add more creative, engaging, hands-on activities to my middle school science teaching 'bag of tricks,' which focused on our local environment and supported the California state standards. I can now take my students out in the field to apply the scientific process first-hand and do real world science."